404 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. I., No. 14. 



and On tlie origin of valley lakes, with especial refer- 

 ence to the lakes of the northern Alps, — coming to 

 the conclusion that glaciers have not, and can not, 

 cut out deep lake basins, although they may effect 

 considerable general surface -erosion. Differential 

 motions within the ice are regarded as consuming 

 nearly all the gravitative and other force applied to 

 the mass; so that an effective erosive motion of ice 

 on bed-rock is small, and especially so in hollows 

 where the motion is much retarded. The ice rather 

 than the rock will yield when a stone is held between 

 the two. Much rock-flour, washed away by the sub- 

 glacial streams, may come from material carried down 

 from surface-moraines. The author denies the force 

 of Ramsay's argument that certain lakes cannot be 

 exijlained save by ice-action, and thinks that cer- 

 tain possible causes were not sufficiently considered. 

 Many alpine lakes are not at all where they should 

 be, if formed by glaciers ; and among the causes that 

 may aid their formation are subsidence from under- 

 ground solution, which recalls Playfair's old sugges- 

 tion to account for Lake Geneva. This may be further 

 aided by the simple weight of the ancient ice aiding 

 to break down such undermined districts. Disloca- 

 tions and folds, moraines, land-slides, and diluvial 

 barriers, are also considered. Several special cases 

 are referred to with some detail. — (Quart, journ. 

 (/eoi. soc, 1883, 62, 73.) w. M. D. [831 



Changes in the Mediterranean climate. — Dr. 

 Th. Fischer, already known for his original studies in 

 this direction, presents a brief statement of further 

 work as supplementary to Tchihatcheff's entertaining 

 lecture before the British association last Augnst (v. 

 Proc. rrnj. f/eogr. soc, 1882). His argument is based 

 on the decline of population, shown by the numerous 

 ruins in now desert regions of the northern Sahara, 

 as well as in Asia Minor and farther east; on the 

 barrenness of districts formerly cultivated, as is 

 shown by the remains of irrigation-dams stretching 

 across dry i-iver-channels {wadis)\ on the occurrence 

 in the Algerian desert of flint chippings covered by a 

 thin gypsum layer, evidently the deposit of a spring, 

 though the region is now wholly dry ; and on the fre- 

 quent occurrence of liglitning-tubes in the dry sands, 

 implying former frequent thunder-storms. In Alge- 

 ria, the recorded annual rainfall from 1838 to 1849 

 averaged SUO mm. ; from 1850 to 1862, 770 mm. ; from 

 1863 to 1870, only 639 mm. The deforesting of the 

 country is regarded as having aided this decrease. 

 Furthermore, the absence of camels from old monu- 

 ments in Egypt, the former occurrence of elephants 

 in the northern Sahara, and use of horses and oxen 

 in crossing the now desert region, — all bear witness to 

 the same general decrease of rainfall. — [Peterm. 

 mitlh., 1883, 1.) w. M. D. [832 



GEOGRAPHY. 



(Arctic.) 

 Aboriginal population of northern America. — 



A recently issued report on tbe Indians of the Do- 

 minion of Canada, together with the information 

 collected by the tenth census of the United States 

 relating to j\.laska, affords the means of approximat- 

 ing to the aboriginal ijopulation of that part of North 

 America, north of the boundary-line of the United 

 States, as it existed in 1860. The Indian population 

 of British Columbia, Manitoba (including the North- 

 west Territory), Athabaska, and Rupert's Land, being 

 the regions where governmental supervision is non- 

 existent or comparatively recent, is put at 78,264. 

 Athabaska and Rupert's Land contain about 6,000, 

 tlie remainder being nearly equally divided between 

 the other two districts. In the older provinces, 



where the whites and aborigines have long been in 

 contact, there are 32,241 Indians. Ontario has 17,126; 

 Quebec, 11,089; Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and 

 Prince Edward's Island divide the remainder. There 

 is an increase, in the total number, of 2,783 over that 

 of last year. There are, of the total Indian popula- 

 tion, 81,634 reported as living on reservations or 

 under supervision. 



In south-eastern Alaska, 6,725 Indians are re- 

 ported; Cook's Inlet, Kadiak, and Prince William 

 Sound are estimated to contain 1,028. The Kuskok- 

 wim valley is alloted 147 ; and the Yukon basin, 2,226. 

 These latter figures are probably under-estimates; but 

 the total arrived at is 10,126. 



Of the Orarian or Eskimo population of the shores 

 of arctic British America no enumeration is yet 

 possible. From Labrador to the j\Iackenzie mouth, 

 probably not less than 6,000 are scattered in various 

 localities. In Alaska there are 2,214 Aleuts. Of 

 Innuit, properly so-called, there are estimated to be 

 17,488, which is likely to prove excessive, and thus in 

 the total to correct the supposed under-estimate of the 

 Indian population. Of these, about 3,000 are assigned 

 to the Arctic coast; about 2,000 to Cook"s Inlet and 

 Kadiak; 7,500 to Bristol Bay and the Kuskokwim 

 delta; and 3,300 to the Yukon delta. Taken together, 

 this would give 25,702 Orarians, and 120,631 Indians; 

 or 146,333 aborigines for the whole area. As esti- 

 mation enters into the figures in several places, it 

 may be said in round numbers, that the region prob- 

 ably contains about 150,000 aboriginal inhabitants, 

 or 1 to 65 □ kilometres. — w. h. d. [833 



(Aiiia.) 



Eastern Turkestan. — K. Himly's translation of 

 the Si yii shui tao ki ( Xotes on the water-courses of 

 the western district), a Chinese woi'k written in 1824, 

 is continued, but not yet concluded. The present 

 number gives statistical description of the course and 

 length of the Kyzyl, Yarkand, and other rivers, and 

 numerous general and etymological notes. — (Zeitschr. 

 f. erdk. Berlin, xvii. 401.) w. m. d. [834 



BOTAWY. 



(P/ajswIogical.) 



Holdfasts in Podostemaceae. — It is well 

 known that the river-weeds possess organs by which 

 they cling to loose stones much as Fuci do. Warming 

 calls attention to the presence of root-hairs on these 

 and many other kinds of holdfasts, and he proposes 

 to bring the various sorts under a single designation, 

 namely, Haptera. While the term may prove useful, 

 it must be remembered that under it are comprised 

 at least two unlike plant-members. As they fulfil the 

 same oflicc, namely, clinging, they are physiologically 

 similar, although morphologically rmlike. — (Botan. 

 zeit, March 22.") G. L. G. [835 



Chemical constitution of certain protoplas- 

 mic bodies. — Zacharias, who has shown the curious' 

 chemical relations between the nucleus in plants and 

 animals, and has pointed out the presence of phos- 

 phorus in the nuclei, has just given an interesting 

 account of his studies in regard to the various con- 

 tents of the cell in plants. Albumen, nuclein, and 

 plastin are found in very different proportions in the 

 different albuminoidal bodies in the cell. — [Botan. 

 zeit., March 30. ) G. I.. G. [836 



(Systematic.) 

 Chapman's Flora. — The re-issue of Dr. Chap- 

 man's Flora of the southern United States, which 

 has long been out of print, is accompanied by a sup- 

 plement of seventy-four pages, giving all the addi- 



